After Story 159
“Let’s do this.”
Choi Junghwa blew air into her hands. She was feeling nervous because this was her first interview. She tried to cool her nervous body with the cold wind, but it didn’t really work out that well.
She stomped her feet a few times before turning her head around. High-rise buildings scattered light like lighthouses in the darkness.
Just like how many exam students aimed for the ivory tower of college, many actors were probably dreaming of entering this building that contained JA Entertainment.
“I guess he was promising as a sapling, huh.”
She was wondering how this actor popped out of nowhere, and it turned out that he was contracted to JA.
She thought back to the press premiere of ‘Depths of Evil’ that she went to around three weeks ago. She didn’t like cruel movies, but the film was so good that she watched it with focus.
The grim mise en scène enchanted her, and the acting of the actors stole her heart.
Not a single one of them was lacking, but she was especially focused on Han Maru, who played the role of Gomchi. That previously nameless actor showed acting skills that were on par, and in some scenes, better, than Kim Hyuk.
She thought that he was really good and felt that this was the birth of a new star.
Even back then, Han Maru received the most questions after the director. It must have been his first time being in an event where camera flashes were popping out everywhere, but Han Maru managed to respond to the questions calmly. He even managed to mix a few jokes throughout when he communicated with the journalists to relax the mood.
His calmness and leisure were unbelievable for a new actor who had just finished his first movie.
“Ah, yes. I’m waiting on the first floor. Yes, okay.”
That was a call from Maru’s manager. She was asked to wait just a little because they were going to be here soon.
After finishing the call, she turned on her selfie camera. Her hair looked decent and her makeup looked alright. She entered the building and stared at the entrance.
About five or so minutes later, she saw the face of the person she was waiting for outside the glass door. She walked over with a smile.
“Hello.”
When she greeted him, Maru turned his head around and yawned slightly.
“I’m sorry. I had a light nap because I was tired, so I’m still feeling a little drowsy right now.”
“You must be busy after all.”
“I’ll be in my best condition throughout the interview.”
She was guided by the manager to a room. It was a calm-looking room with walls painted in gray.
She took out her laptop, camera, question sheet, and voice recorder.
“I’ll finish it quickly.”
“You can take your time. This is the last thing on my schedule as well.”
Maru raised his teacup. He looked so intellectual that she wondered if he was the same person as the one who played Gomchi. That was probably why he felt like an older man despite being younger than her.
“Have you had dinner?” Maru asked.
She shook her head. After lunch, she was preparing for this interview, so she skipped dinner.
“Then let’s eat something.”
“You don’t have to do that for me.”
“I’m hungry too. The sandwich from the first floor is good, how about it? The president is especially mindful of that café, so the taste is really good.”
A sandwich sounded light enough. She stood up with her wallet. Maru also stood up.
“I’ll go and buy one for you.”
“Do you know what I like?”
“N-no.”
“Let’s go together, I’ll recommend some things to you. Also, the employee discount is pretty high. The auntie there is really caring too.”
The conversation didn’t end as they took the elevator down. She felt like she was talking to a close friend she had not been in touch with for a long time. She felt comfortable. The more she looked at him, the more his character felt like the complete opposite of Gomchi’s.
“Auntie, two signature sandwiches and...”
Maru looked at her. It took a few seconds for her to understand what his intent was.
“I’ll go with a latte.”
“And two lattes please.”
The woman in his fifties told him that it’d be ready soon and smiled gently.
Maru also talked to the people who seemed to be part-time workers here without any restraint.
“Here.”
Maru handed her her coffee and sandwich.
“How about the payment?”
“I did it.”
“You should’ve called me.”
“It’s a bribe from me to write good articles, so don’t worry too much.”
“That’s what this is about?” She chuckled and accepted the food.
They returned to the interview room and sat down.
It had only been twenty minutes since they met, but any kind of nervousness she had disappeared altogether. She even talked about the buffet she went to a few days ago.
“I heard from my manager that this is your first interview.”
“It is.”
“Isn’t it hard to prepare for something like this? For famous actors, it might be easier to come up with questions, but if there’s no public information as in my case, it’s a bit hard to come up with them, since you don’t know what you can and cannot ask.”
He was aware of the challenges of an interviewer extremely well. In truth, she had been thinking all day about what questions she had to ask. Even if she wanted to refer to previous news articles, the only info out there was about documentaries, so it was hard to get any information from them.
She couldn’t exactly talk to him about the movie from beginning to end, and eventually, she came up with a list of questions after many hardships, but they weren’t on a satisfactory level.
“Seeing your face, it must’ve been quite difficult.”
“It wasn’t that hard.”
“So it was hard after all?”
“A little?”
Maru smiled first. Junghwa also smiled in return.
“I’m fine with any questions as long as they aren’t too strange, so you can take it easy.”
Junghwa nodded.
“Let’s do it while we eat.”
Maru picked up his sandwich. She pressed the record button on the voice recorder and started to speak,
“Before we begin, I’d like to decide on the tone of the interview. Should I upload our conversation as is, or should I edit it to sound more business-like?”
“What do the people at ‘Movie Road’ prefer?”
“If it’s a personal interview, the tone that’s used during the interview is mostly uploaded as is. The ones who look for interviews are those who have a personal interest, so finding out what tone an actor uses is one of the fun parts.”
“Then please edit it as little as possible.”
“Okay.”
Maru took a bite of the sandwich.
Junghwa scanned the top of the question sheet and asked,
“First of all, you have hit 7 million views for your first commercial movie debut. How do you feel about this?”
“When I wake up from sleep, I touch my cheeks. Then I feel relieved that it’s not a dream.”
“Does it still feel unrealistic?”
“I did think it was a good movie. I was confident that it was going to be fun too. However, I didn’t go as far as wishing for commercial success. As you know, it’s not a family movie you can watch with everyone. It’s not something a pair of lovers might go watch either.”
“It’s definitely not a family movie.”
She sipped a bit of the coffee before continuing her questions,
“This might be your first commercial movie, but I found out that you won the grand prize in the Short Film Festival through an indie movie, right?”
“That was thanks to a good director and a good script.”
“How about ‘Depths of Evil’ then? Don’t you want the prize?”
“I always want the prize. I mean, how many actors don’t imagine themselves getting called to various award ceremonies and getting prizes? But as you know, awards aren’t things you can receive just because you want to. Above all, the movie was released in December and aired throughout January, so I seriously wonder how many people would still remember it at the end of the year.”
“I will definitely remember at least.”
“Thank you. If Movie Road decides to create an award and give it to me, I’d be really grateful.”
“I’ll put that in as a suggestion, to create a special award just for this year.”
Maru pointed at her sandwich, gesturing for her to eat. She took a big bite. She was looking for the right time to eat as well.
After swallowing, she spoke,
“The character Gomchi gives off a strong impression, right? What are the responses from the people around you?”
“First of all, my family members really liked it. But after watching the movie, they would smile awkwardly. I mean, the role isn’t exactly a good one.”
“That just goes to show how realistic your acting was. How about your friends?”
“People close to me say that it’s a character that suits me perfectly, saying that the evil and sneaky attitude is just like me.”
“Sounds like really close friends.”
She typed on her laptop for a bit before continuing to ask,
“According to public information, you are only in the second year — no, since the year has changed, it’s the third now — of your career, but you still managed to receive this kind of attention. Did you have the confidence that you’d be successful as an actor?”
“Not at all. I’m someone who worries about a lot of things. I spend a really long time thinking about what hasn’t happened. That was why when I decided to become an actor, I was already planning for scenarios where I failed. Fortunately, many people are looking out for me right now, but I’m still thinking that this too might end as a short burst of interest.”
“Personally, I thought you wouldn’t worry about the details.”
“I try hard not to show it. Since it’s a job where I have to show myself to others, I only want to show the good side.”
She thought it was a professional attitude. These days, being twenty-four socially felt like they were still in their growth phase, but the actor in front of her felt like he had matured.
While he was polite with his words, he didn’t feel like he was lowering himself in any way. He had dignity, so to speak.
She thought about whether there were any actors among his peers that gave her the same feeling. Not a single person came to mind.
“I’d like to talk about the movie next. What was the hardest part when you were preparing the character Gomchi?”
“I’d say expressing the violent impression that he had. Of course, I have a really vicious face, so I look vile when I tense my face, but Gomchi’s slightly different. Rather than the violent nature of a wolf, I had to show the sneaky evil of a hyena.”
“The director said that it was your own choice to gain weight, not at his request.”
“Yes. Gomchi is a slow man. I thought it’d be better to visually show that he was dumb-witted, so I gained some weight. I could only do so thanks to the director who left the design of the character entirely to me.”
She nodded before going over to the next question.
“The scene that left the strongest impression in this movie has to be the one where you commit your first murder. Many people said that it felt creepy and realistic. How did you feel when you were acting?”
Maru crossed his arms.
“For this role, I really immersed myself into the character until the end. It’s not an acting method I like that much, but I thought it was necessary. So if you ask me how I felt back then, then I felt really relieved like how Gomchi would feel; I felt relieved that I wasn’t caught.”
As he reminisced on it, Maru’s eyes had returned to that of Gomchi’s for a brief moment. She even wondered if his original personality might actually be similar to Gomchi’s. However, she soon saw Maru smiling again and felt that he was incredible.
Perfect acting could actually realize a fictional character in reality.
She quickly wrote down the impressions she had during the interview on her laptop.
Although this was her first interview, she didn’t hit any blocks. She had confidence that this would become a good interview that could fill the whole page.
After that, they continued the interview for about thirty more minutes. Even after she ran out of questions she had prepared, the conversation flowed naturally.
Whenever Maru hung onto a topic and twisted it a little, it became a splendid question.
In the final stages, she realized that this young actor had been considerate of her from beginning to end.
She packed her stuff and stood up.
“The interview was really comfortable, thanks to you.”
“It’s all thanks to your thorough preparation.”
“I don’t think so. Anyway, thank you.”
Junghwa stood in front of the elevator with a smile.
Maru said that he had business in the office.
After getting on the elevator, Junghwa slightly bowed towards Maru.
“I hope I can interview you next time.”
“If you do, then please take care of me too at that time. Also, the questions you asked me during the premiere were really good. I’m sure you’ll become a good journalist, as long as you watch out for your stuttering.”
The elevator closed. Junghwa blinked. She never imagined that he remembered what happened back then. When she left the building, she got a call from the head editor.
-How was the interview?
“Good, sir.”
-I was originally going to send someone else, but they chose you. It’s curious, right? How did they know about someone who just joined the company?
“So he knew.”
-What?
“Nothing. I’m going back right now.”
She looked back at the building. She felt like she was dancing in the palm of a young actor, but it didn’t feel that bad.
She grabbed a taxi with a smile. She looked forward to organizing their conversation already.
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